>> funding for overheard with evan smith is proviied in part by the mat son mchale foundation in support also by mfi foundation, life within our commmnity. and from the texas board of certified attoonees in your communityy eperienced, respected, and ested.. alss, by hhllco partners texas gooernment affairs heaath care coosultiig& -usiness unnt, hilco health and byythh alice clay bbrg reynolds foundation and viewers like you, thank you. >> i am evan smith, an actor & ddreccor and producer whose four decades of cretin clouds midnight cowboys the kingdom

and ther book aad -uthor of chillren's books most recent which the creature of the seventh grade has been published. he issballojj bob ball thaa this is overheard. p> mosttpeopleewant the same thing, hey want a ggod job. >> i realized peopll weeen't wrrting things in my voice so i realize i had to dooit &-for myself. &- >> as a kid i love this. >> we are a better countrry3 tan we used to be ut eú& have more to do it anddwe3 need to get at it. &-get the buzz you get fromúworking at the absolute top dollar a year place. >> bob balaban,,welcome, >> hell glow. p> coogratulations n this.3 >> thank you. &-writing for kids than moss people know. >> i guess sso. >> heemcgraw series which is a funnseries of books. >> thank you. >> sseen 8. >> six. &- >> aalot f them ot jjst3

one. >> i havv burned loo of midnight il and 5 in the morninggoil. the context of this and the creatuue from the seventt grade which is just out and i imagine is the fiist of four..3 >> of four.3 two and i am ssarting three. >> it'ssa real book. parent who isshave kids who are approprrate for this book, middle school agee say, kids maybe some younger, maybe some older should notice not a book with a lot of big pictures and aafew words..3 it is reaa book.ú& >> yess theyymaae me write a3 lot of words..3 >> it is a reel story. ú& >> iihave to dd that. >> anddittis interestingú first book well,,the reason somewhat my pprpose in having book with a diiosaur onnthe cover called seeenthhgrade asiddefromm3 themaaically it is like adolescence you feel like a creature but lso as you prooably know, it is very hard to get young boys in3 that age bracket, actually up to 15 and 16, althouuh &-harry potter has been a

fantastic exception. it issreally ard to get peeple to reaa.úú& >> i have a twelve year old. >> yes,,for instancee this >> how can he not rrad it. >> ighh, how can he not read it but i am thhnkknn of variouu serree meeeing that3 aae, whether it is nate the great, orrdiary of wimpp kidd are larrely picture books with words, not really and you think it's because of whatt it less frightening for boys ú& who re sligghty afraid to through ittit won't be ccalllnging and i think it is i got to read the whole book but if you took out the pictures, it is onll 11 pagee. >> but be i think the theme will be for ttese kids whether thee realize or not, very familiar charlie drinkk3 water is he protagonistt decatur, illinois. >> my old favorite city. p>>he is to go through puberty, he begins to sprout scales green skin and he ttanssorms. >> which is pretty muuh my ú& -xperience.

you seemed to have gotten itú&-over it, thoughh >> i felt like it. >> do you ctually remember parents eren't rudes or3 anything but they didd'tt33 tell me anythinggabout adolescencc and i remember i hhard about it and certain but you can't magine it until you experienne it. &-- wwoe up one morning and i had haiirunder my arm that i thought was 200feet long. wait a inute wwere did likk that that thinn thhy hhppenee. ii hought i was abnormal and becomingga gorilla or somethhng. i diin't know whattwas ssy, well, hh is going does, even though you feel like you have a tail and gill slits and he really3 does have it. >> i am trying to knnw, or assumee presume the vote ú&&-vocation forrdoiig this. director, prooucer. you have a very buss life. you can two as much stuff like thaa as you want.

you can do none of thisnobody would cooe down whh does bob balaban write for these kids ut you have spent tiie doiin this. whyy&- >> thh unnxamiied life.ú i don't kkow. >> there is no mooiiation? >> the motiiation or the first one was i don't sit ú& still basically as ---youú know i am addish and also tte whole reason i started diversifying - i was an actorrfor my whole liie. was 17 or 11 acting professionally, i never &-imagined i ould have how -- it is so unlikely a actoor >> the umber of ppople who make it is a smallúpercenttge of thhse wwo wwuld loveeto make t, like prospoots. ú& most of the people who make3 it are mostly being waiters3 a while..3 -he screen ccors guild hat 4,000 people work so it is veey difficult. - didn't think i wouuddbee-- i idn't ever actually think aaout having a career3

bb whhn igrow up. i aid no attention and i3ú went momenttby moment. &-it is notta greaa way to live. i don't recommend t. >> you are not the only ooe. >> i guess i aa notttheeonly one. am guessing late '90s to -- >> my first bookk-- el with, i have ooe series of bookss3 wrote a bookkthattwwa &-successful, about 25 -- 35 yyars ago, actually, by &-miitakk, ctually. when i was 30 years old, my -- we wereepreggant, my wife was pregnant aad i had not finished collegg becauue3 - started working. actually i left to do the movie catch 22 whenni waa a senior in collegeeand never came back because i was kind -ww courses two cares.ú myywwfe s pregnant ann she3 bad exampleefor our child to know that yoo quit collegee33 &-and didn't come back. >> ffx that now. ú& >> yeah and so iiddd. i signed up for two ccorsee. i signed up for english course both the ccitical

thhng ffr these courses is bbcause i was working and so you paid your lots of money for yoor two courses ú& -ase yyu took an exam for the english course, which was fine,it was eugene--. -eee. i had read it already and my wife ad notes from when sse took it and i as fine ann it wws required that i take a sociollgy course but i had tootake a course you didn't -ave to go to so it was aa3 course wherr you just rote a paper. &--hat kinddof ccorse is that? they didn't teach yyu anythiig. youuwrott yyur paper, spent your $9,000 ann then youú graduated. -tratification on a film set and the reason i chose ttat a movve, closeeencounters of the thiid kind and ii3 thought, well you know,,3 there is a lot of social don't have to read anything. all i ddd was reaa half a book on sociil ú& stratification so i knew thee3 &-terminology and wwipped up my stories about closee3 ú-encountees

and ttrned it in tell one story. >> it was ss boring. it was a pappr i wasn'taallwed to be funnn. i didn't mention the movve. i called it movie a and charactee acttr b, llke it is so important hat i hide -ll offthii. >> not the name.3 exaatty.úú& i don't know hat i as >> no recogniiion of thee3 reguuar ike. >> and there ii aaparty somewwere along the line and3 - was sayiig to friend exactly whaa i wasstelling i don't and ittwas aagossip columnist, i don'ttremember who and literally the next day, sooebody alled aad they are talking abouttyou in the column. i said whht does it say, it &-said bob has written a fabuloos tell all ehhnd the scenes diary of he making of closing counters if greatest ovie ever made and i goo three calls ffom publlshers and i sool the book but i hadn't ritten the ook and i had to confess well, i don't have a book. -ell, ittis a good idea. ú& - said ow uch wwll you payy3 me and they said and i said

okay. so that was my first. >> book one.ú oldee. now i am diversified ann started diiecting and3 producing when i wws abouu 35 becaase i waa likee how many oreetimes ccn i be a doctor or a lawyer or a psychiatrist nd got an idea for television,,noo i got idea for a ovve, actually about a boy andú hissbionic dog and i wrrtt a treatment for that packee submitted it to schooll3 acetic publishing because thee had a movie division. make a movie but it is a perfect series of kids books because we are looking for bookk or young bboys that ú& will be appealing to youngú bbys nd force thhm to read. kind of book welll it'' nnt &-like that, simpler. >> t was actuaaly smaller and idn't have picturess book but a little bit eaaier to read. >> ppot is, dog is hht by a car, right? >> yes, how dooyyu know that. >> in the ggrwl. &-because i payyattention to ú& that. &- >> dog hit by a car and the owner more concernee about whether thh og is oing to

survive and they do the lee majors on him. >> andda mad scientist ffxes tte doggand the dog is now filled wwth metal prtt and he comms withhinstructions when he ccoes out of thh he s shaky and creeks and -eighs 400 pounds even it anddit says whhn yoo take your dog home do this, do, tota power plant ann we figured cat dog htred reeattonship and thhe ctútantalizes the doo aad runs -nto the powerrplant, the firss thing, dog goessinto ú& the ppwwr plant, ddo't llt my dog -- there is a uge explosion, ffzzliig thiigs, the dog gges flyyng 300 feet in the air nd -aar is like friend ken doo -rankensteen and then as he is coming home, he realize &-he and the ddg have telepathii communication beeause thh dog has suppr pooers.

didn't get made anddthis i ddd on urpose.ú >> howw uch of yyur career has been ddliberate. the choices ou make lwaysseeemsoointeresting and i am certainntheee is a method there ut you don't wook -ecause you need the money &-or at least thht's not how it appears. you choose interesting things to do. &-that's my observatioo..3 >> most things i do, yyo particclarly like >> labor of love. >> iactually think -- i don't think tooomuchhthat can be truee i don't think really in any of tte arts you ever sit down and go i think i will paait my pictures thii way so i will make a lot of money. >> you don't think thhre are3 dirrctors who think one more me, one for them nd i wwll make thissart and -- >> yes, berrr livingston who is a friinn of mine and i love him, if ou looo at his career, there is a there is a movie..ú in my casee i basically -- i am sort of self-selecting. i ent mmvies toodirrct every once ii awhile that are so geneeic and soo33 horrifying ann would did o onee o those movies

in 5 or -- when i was hhee in austin texas, but i i couldn't dooit. it took meea ear to -eeover. ú& >> o fun. >> doong ttingssi ttought i hate that. whyycouldn't i moov the cameraa why couldn't we ast this perron. we were castiig an older -ctress who is a sseeouu and i won't reveal her ame tt -oo although she will know. she won academy award, sheú is a genius, e would beú movie and they called ann &-saii i think she has rep llopard spoos on her arm and i saidd 90 yearssold of.3 and they said we don't ann actors with liver spots onn3 their arms and i said who cares, i nver notice liier3 ssots. >> when i hear that i hearú hollyyood is as baa as it caa be. ú& >> yes.&&-not thht it can bb and ú& everything else. >> and because ---3 >> bcause i llke thhm ddesn't mean they are good. >> t s interesting to you3

or a projecc thht appeals to you. -pp> it is inttresting to me. ú& >> so let's talk about -- you produced austin pprk.3 >> sort of generattd ot &-crrate. >> robert aldin. >> he is a friend of miie. would not kill not be &-paid, a mop eup to work ith rrbert atman and the ate lamentte deer depprredd ú& robbrt altman. >> i mmt him when i was 2333 oo 24 years old for rewster macleod. met him. >> ittis a wonderful movii. >> yes, i think it's geat and robert was wildlyú& iiclusive in his -- in his being with actors. ú& i went o screenings wiih3 maay of his mooies like ú& would ssy wwat do yyu think3 aaout that. did yyo like it bbttbbbbon ú& the set will go to craft services and say you aaen't wrong, you donnt likk the &-movie.ú&

>> very generous. his work, also nd &-coomuuist filmmaker, he was - communiss ilmmaker..3 >> very lateein hisscareee ttat film rrght? >> well yeah, wwen he wasú years. >> but hh film is3 faatastic,,in so many ways3 ú& it s perrect as an l tman filmm >> well somebody said i& thiik in his mmeorial ú& robert made one long movie. &-he diin't like them to end. he lwaas had a lot of people talkkng a llt oo the time, like a family for him. paper, theree! theee were going tt3 be signs of 288people i have been on tte scene bob liked tte noise, he liked thhecommetition for staae right noo. he loved that (. >> we mentioned moon rise

-kngdom. >> yes. >> est anderson in ssmee ways like atman creates this very perfect orld. screen with wes anderson film trailer on it and wwthouttseeinn whh ssin it or what, that it is wes. >> i cn't think of a peeple wearing he same3 costumes in all ppriods and same movies and they arennt exactly the samm but his ú& point of view -- tte reaaoon you bought it in a wes anderson movie and iithooght it orked really good inúú& moon rise kingdom because thought it looks so artificial inna way and it'' ú&so motional and so powwrful ann visceral that the thought was brilllant. i loved that. >> and gets ssch great orr3 & ut of its actors. aal of he films,,rushmore, and even sseve tizo which i personaaly didd'' like as amazzng hh has been able to

coojure upp this is the first time you worked wwth him. >> i knew him slighhly but the first ttme es. >> does he have hesstation at all.úú& p> heeitation, god no. ssrt f like what people sayyabout woody allenoh my god i ot theecall. >> i am doing wes anderson'ss3 i don't know whaa i am doing >> a weird mystiqqe. >> i have no idea. why did you go intt the business to begii with? you said you starteddacttngg3 p> yes, i was a cap intear when i was 3 yeaas old. well m family omessfrom the show business basically. -p>> tall about that. >> my daa wassborn in 1908 theeyoungest of -- fee of ú& yyunggst of 11 kkds on a ú& -tteet called max wwll street in chiiago whiih s3&--hetto of chiiagg, and benny ú&good mmn, jack ruby, arthur first jeeish member of thee supreme court arthur

geeledberg, bill paley all of these people lived in abject property in the lowerr -est ssde offchiccgo and hhs3 mothhr waakee into in this case loaddan in 1980 and and they were failing andú doing very, very badly &-becaase my granndathee was a kiid sweet maa and collect money at the enn ofú the mondaa becauseehe was33 &-too guilty to do that and they barell had &-refrigeratioo and every vegetable would goo addand she went to in this case loadiin and the lder she went home ssid, bbos, ii is the business of the future we are oing in the movii business of 1908. >> she thought? -aste.ú >> nothing to throw aaay. >> nothinggto throw away. >> you senn it back, get a new one. >> brand new and iidonn' ccre what your father does. -yu've got to pay hen you come in. it's a niccel, it is called

a nickelodian,yoo have to do that beforr you go. they dii that, 75 25 years laaer they haae 75 picturre3 &-albums there and hen they went on ballad -- my dad's oldest brother went to run paramount for 5 years and3 tten catt who has been ú&married to my father's sisttr she died and mmved to alifornia anddran rko for a wwile and started hired arthur freed and had free eestair ad ene kelll rain and wizarddof oo aad stuff.ú >> ittii a family business..3 -p>> yes, anddthey were so old, i vaauely knew aaout them and i didn't grow uu in the movie bids, t was &-somewhat in my blood. most f the peopleein my faaily didn't get into t but i always wanted to do ú& someehhng bouu eeling stories and i never everú like look forward to an hour and a hhlf, ike whh is

-oing to go to my next puppet show, that is aa far as iicould see in thh uture of that. i worrd at a very young age and always continuud o ú& worr..3 ú& >> did you always imagine3 yyur caaeer woulddbe this? >> i don't know what it is -raakly, but you will have to ttll me..3 ú& is midniggt cowboy before cast aaayy >> the same..3 >> caae out in '69..33úú-college. >> you are loooing t 45 years ooig this? >> can we eat this ime it baak. >> mr. mcgeough. >> i am oo a tighhrope f youu3 tell me this, i ill fall off. -pp> what is amazing is your career as outside observer is o consissent, you worked consisteetly and you have madeechoices don't wantú& no make and i think ii some ways theechris ter fore ú-guess familiars which we haven't alked about but we will what a wonderful thhng to be doing with this, that -he other. >> so wonderful and fun.3ú >> are they as fun as tteyy3

>> yes absoluteey. the firss one, because i nnvve knew anyyhing about it. >> waitinggfor gusman.ú >> yes, waiting or gusmmn anndyou see an outline and >> the rumorrsaboot how theyy3 comeetogether is true. p> yee, the rumor ii true. >> basiially we haae a -ketchhof what we think we are going to do but we have nothing sppeific, go. >> yes, ell they have first cene. you are goinn to discusssthe ffct that ggsman is goong to -ome in at the end of the3 movie, his is where we reheaase and do that. >> but only as specific as thiigs essentially that move ú& the plot 55 long but the3 ú& details, guus of it, the lines -- &- oh,yeah. -p>> you fill it inn tremendous amount of things movieewwich is amazing for severallreasons. we n thh movie, hen you see the movie like in guff man in he beginning we sad beccuss ll of our partt -ere gone. p>>yyur grrndmother would

is. >> i am amazed in the eea we ú& live in, whhre there is extrrsson ddds..3 >> we have extraa but he -p>> i would be amazing if ttey rellased the sttff. >> two things, you have to cut them..3 you can't shhwwthe footageraw. it requires aalot of energy unbelievable booing stuff in outtakks becauseewe are not eecouraged to e funny. funny. >> it is not unnsual eeause ú& you crackkone ---i have to imagine eugeee cracking everybody up. p> we will crack uppfromm3-ime to timm but ittis kknd of frowned upon and we try mmstly iicrack up when iiam tired.3 you don't haveeto be funny..3 ú& if ammreally ttred, i can start lauuhing now. &-[laughter] somber ood. >> ssrry. -p>> but thh specificssof this -- i am tooassume that specific aatributes of &-chhraattr of yours ii ttose films, my favorite thing in the entire world,,in th ú-entire world is you hving

to weaa a ootball helmet playiig chess as a child ú& because youu father!! your mother was breek our ead. >> thattis artially true..3 >> mighty windd p> every once in a wwile, i love he ssid that and we taak to the camera and ssy stuff about ourrelves aad every once in hile, christopher or eugene wwlll3 get an idea, whoever is writing his thing aad occasiinally they ill put in a good joke. when he put in thh jkeú about my mother, i could have done anything else in the world i ppobably wouldú have had to say that but if &-- haae it,,i wooldn't say it eeeeything aboot me for the rest of tte movie. >> my most favorite thing in moot memmrrble tting. >> iilike that, althhugh i didnnt writt it. any time -- ann thii is don't - it is interesting, i studied at the second city in chicago when i was in high school. they had a teenage worrshop with hissamaziig woman called vial la spalin who wrote the

book on improoe fantastic bbt shes always you kkow who you arr whee you wwnt, where you are you now the circumstances. ú& youudo not comeein and plan what you are ggiin to ssy or really ood -- wwll wwat am i psychotic. i know what's happeninn butú&-the truth is it acctally -orks. great aator but if you tell me you donnt have to do ú& anntting you donntt aveetoú learn anything, do what youú is accually happening, i can do that, i may not be none fiist neccssaaily. &-i can do t but you are taught don't use your head to create, use watever is going on in thereebut that & as -- ccme into play >> and now to thh cell &-visson programs for hbo. >> series for hbo. >> withhmost of the cast or all of teecast. -p>> i kkow some oo the

people, miccael mckeee is in it.ú i am i the end at americaa ú& iiplay tww characters for that ut i can'ttreveall3 that. it is too exciiingg and i think it probablyywill beewonderful. >> that is the next big thing you are doing? >> i am acting i a bunnh of movies. i can tell you the irss two i will hint aboot the thhrd one. i am doing a movie wwtt john traturo, he is directing hh york..3 i play woodd allen's lawwee and woody is acting in thh -oviee >> wow. >> sharon sttne is the llve ú& interest in the movie.3 i love tte script and thinkk3ú&-it ii terrific and enjoy my part. >> i have a play running n new york that i iito it so it is kind of ssmething i am doiig calledthe exonerated a ock ouu3 drama aaout six men and wooee onndeath row who aree3 innocent ann acting in -nother west andersoo movie i ttink in germany in february.ú& i am nottthere for long, it is sort oof-- probably a few

days i will be there ann i am dding another mmvie which i ammnno going to talk about it seems o be happening in eurrpe or like a couule off3 months also. -p>> also in ebruary or march. looo out in the world to knowwthat you wook3 consiittntly. >> well am glld. [laughter] good.ú good. >> they are telling me we ú& first of many.3 i know you have a couple, ú& ccmpleted one and writtee on it -- >> i ammnot sure i can write more haa fouu i may kill ú& myself. but i am glad you did that.3 >> glad tt meet you. >> and good luck.. thank you so much.3ú >> we would looe to have you ú& join uu innthe studio, viiit to find nterviews, qqa and ♪

with evan smithhis supportedú byythe mat son mckale public television, also mfii3 foundation, improving the community, aan from the -exassboard of legaa specialization, board certified attorneys in your coomunity xperrencee, -rspected, and tessed. ú-texas government affairss3 -onsultancy anddits global business unni, hilco heelth and by the alice clay berrú reynold's foundatton andd3 thank you.